Edinburgh Festival 2012: Ali McGregor, Assembly George Square, review

Ali McGregor performs a gorgeous show in the Spiegeltent in George Square at
the Edinburgh Festival 2012, writes Laura Barnett.

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Singer Ali McGregor who is performing at the Edinburgh Festival this year

By Laura Barnett

5:55PM BST 15 Aug 2012

Like that other elegant, retro-styled chanteuse Camille O’Sullivan, Australian singer and actress Ali McGregor first came to Fringe attention with La Clique, the skewed cabaret show currently delighting audiences in the Famous Spiegeltent on George Street. And like O’Sullivan, McGregor specialises in reinterpretations of familiar songs from the rock and pop canon.

But the similarities stop there: where O’Sullivan brings her late-night, wine-sodden touch to the songs of Kurt Weill, Jacques Brel and Nick Cave, McGregor’s interest lies in what she joyfully terms “trash”. So, in this gorgeous show in another, smaller Spiegeltent in George Square (appropriately, given McGregor’s immaculate appearance, named “Elegance”), we get covers of underrated chart-toppers such as Aqua’s Barbie Girl and Madonna’s La Isla Bonita, performed in the jazz-standard style of Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan.

McGregor’s voice is phenomenal — she is a classically-trained soprano — and she has a warm stage persona. A delightful way to while away an August evening.